Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TUNIS886
2009-12-02 06:42:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tunis
Cable title:  

TUNISIAN RESPONSE TO INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION

Tags:  PREL KWMN KPAO PHUM TS 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTU #0886 3360642
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 020642Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY TUNIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7044
INFO RUCNMGH/MAGHREB COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS TUNIS 000886 

SIPDIS

S/GWI FOR BENNETT AND GHORI; ALSO FOR NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KWMN KPAO PHUM TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIAN RESPONSE TO INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION
OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND THE "16-DAY CAMPAIGN"

Ref: STATE 120322

Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly.

UNCLAS TUNIS 000886

SIPDIS

S/GWI FOR BENNETT AND GHORI; ALSO FOR NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL KWMN KPAO PHUM TS
SUBJECT: TUNISIAN RESPONSE TO INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION
OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND THE "16-DAY CAMPAIGN"

Ref: STATE 120322

Sensitive but Unclassified. Please protect accordingly.


1. (SBU) Summary: This cable is in response to the Department's
request for Post to organize activities and initiatives in honor of
the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
(IDEVAW) on November 25 and the "16-day Campaign." To commemorate
this day, Embassy Tunis has highlighted the IDEVAW on its website,
is working with a regional NGO and a women's organization to
increase attention to the issue of violence against women, and has
adapted IIP's op-ed for placement in the Tunisian press. Tunisia
has a long tradition of supporting women's rights in the modern era
and thus is a favorable climate for the Embassy to promote the
IDEVAW. End summary


2. (SBU). In honor of the IDEVAW, Embassy Tunis created a new
section of its trilingual website to focus on women's issues. This
area, http://tunisia.usembassy.gov/policy/women.htm l, features
important speeches made by the President and the Secretary voicing
their strident opposition to violence against women, information and
background about the work of the United Nations Populations Fund
(UNFPA) and other international organizations to combat
gender-related violence, and calls attention to the work of Tunisian
activists and organizations that support and defend women's rights
and freedoms.


3. (SBU) Embassy Tunis is working with the Center of Arab Women for
Training and Research (CAWTAR),a regional non-governmental
organization, to publicize the organization's mission of increasing
women's empowerment in the Arab world and to develop future programs
and trainings between the Embassy and the organization.
Additionally, the Information Officer meets monthly with a group of
women involved in the development field in the private and public
sectors in Tunisia that puts a specific focus on raising awareness
about global women's issues.

4. (SBU) Embassy Tunis will seek placement for an op-ed under the
name of the Ambassador calling attention to the right of women to be
free from gender-based violence and honoring the IDEVAW and the
"16-Day Campaign" in local media outlets. Because of its history of
supporting women's rights and freedoms, Tunisia is a favorable
environment in which to publicize the importance of the IDEVAW. The
Tunisian government observed the IDEVAW on November 25th and put out
an official statement in support of women's rights:
http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/?p=29893. Additionally, the
Tunisian First Lady has taken a personal interest in the rights of
women and said last week that elimination of violence against women
is a civil, social, and moral obligation.

DESJARDINS